


my crew is anything but boring

by mothwrites



Series: COLA crossovers [2]
Category: Firefly, The Shapeshifter & Unleashed - Ali Sparkes
Genre: Family Dynamics, Firefly AU, Flashbacks, Multi, Team as Family, rough and unedited, this was meant to be three sentences long, war settings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-08-23
Updated: 2013-08-23
Packaged: 2017-12-24 08:41:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,698
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/937926
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mothwrites/pseuds/mothwrites
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“Why are you here? Why pick my ship? Tregarren’s not exactly a beauty, and I can’t imagine Clive sold it that well. We just about get by on the odd honest job and a lot of not very honest ones. We’re a bunch of misfits, let's be honest. We’re-” He looked up, and Owen was staring at him with an expression of such kindness and patience that he suddenly felt very small, and very shy. “We’re a family.”</p>
            </blockquote>





	my crew is anything but boring

(tregarren, present)

Dax watched the man with the sunglasses carefully as he boarded his vessel. _His_ vessel. Dax had built this team up from nothing, had brought together his rag-tag crew from all the different corners of the galaxy, and it always made him uneasy bringing strangers on board. Especially strangers with unreasonably large luggage. But he seemed friendly enough, with his bright smile and his charming manners, so he shrugged it off, letting it settle in the back of his mind instead of the forefront. And he could always rely on Lisa, his right arm, to keep a good eye on him.

For some reason, Clive had brought a Shepherd on board; a older man, perhaps in his mid-forties, who seemed to be regarding everything with an air of authority and vague amusement. He wandered over, telling himself to keep an open mind.

“You must be Captain Jones,” the Shepherd greeted him, as warmly as if they were old friends.

“Clive tells me you’re a Shepherd?”

The man nodded. “Shepherd Hind. Though I’m retired. He’s a nice boy.”

“The best in the business,” Dax agreed, and shook Hind’s outstretched hand. “Good to have you on board. If you follow that redhead, he’ll show you where to put your stuff.”

Spook caught the last part of their exchange and scowled. “It’s not my job to show passengers around, Jones.”

“Your job is whatever I tell you to do, Williams. _Go_. Darren?” The youngest of their team popped up at his side immediately. Small and subtle, he was an excellent spy, and usually played the main role in their targeted cons, when Spook wasn’t doing it. Grudgingly, Dax had to admit that like Darren, Spook had a sort of gift for making people see what they want to see. They might just be cheap tricks, but they worked. Thankfully, Darren was much easier to get on with.

“Yes, cap’n?”

“You mind showing our new passenger to the cargo bay? The blonde one. And if you can-”

“Sneak a look inside?”

He ruffled Darren’s mousy brown curls. “Exactly.” The boy scampered off, waving a quick hello to Clive, and then took the blonde passenger’s arm, chattering nineteen to the dozen, though Dax knew it was all just an act. He led the stranger and his box to the cargo bay, leaving Dax, Clive and Lisa alone on the ramp. Dax beckoned them both closer.

“What do you think? And Clive, what is a Shepherd doing on my boat?”

“You just told me to bring passengers! You didn’t specify any type of passengers, and he can pay. Besides, it makes us look respectable.”

“Okay, good call,” he admitted reluctantly. “What about the blonde one?”

“He’s called Gideon Reader, and he’s an ex-soldier. Independent, like us. I’m not sure what he does now.”

“You didn’t ask about that huge box?” Lisa interjected, glaring. “What possessed you?”

“I was distracted! I’ve found the perfect coil for- Mia! Mia!” Dax and Lisa looked up to see their first engineer park the cart and jump out, dusting her hands down on her coveralls.

“Oh, _wait_ til’ you see what I’ve found-”

“Me too, I’ve-”

Lisa stamped her foot. “ _Later_. Get on board.” The two of them walked down the ramp as it lifted up. “Not too late to kick them out, captain,” Lisa murmured as they watched the commotion in the cargo bay.

“You worry too much.” He tapped his walkie-talkie. “Jen, get us in the air.” The speaker crackled, _aye captain_ , and Tregarren started to murmur as the engines fired up. Dax let out a breath he didn’t know he’d been holding. Things always felt better inside his ship.

*

(a busy moon, two years ago)

The man- Daxesh- looked up at Spook with an expression of disbelief that made him want to punch the air.

“This is a _con_ , isn’t it?”

“Took you long enough to catch on,” he snorted. “The famous Captain Jones. I’m disappointed.”

Dax smiled. “And I’m impressed. Truly. Who do you work for?”

“We work for ourselves.”

“Let me buy you a drink.”

An hour later, Spook was still sitting down with Captain Jones, and Darren sat with them. He’d been there all night, of course, but decided to reveal himself to the captain, who looked even more impressed, and bought him a drink too. It was a two-man con, they were always two-man cons.

“I want to offer you a job,” Jones finally said, after finishing his first drink. Darren immediately gave Spook a look that said _listen_.

“I’m _listening,_ " he answered pointedly, amused by his boyfriend's rolling eyes. "What are the specifics?”

“There are none. I’m offering you a job on my _crew_. I could use two good con-men.”

“You’re smugglers,” Darren stated. The captain nodded.

“Among other things. We’re a team. You two could fit in nicely. You’d get your fair share of the profits, and your own rooms-” Spook laid a protective hand on Darren’s hip- “ _room_ ,” Dax amended, “and privacy, when we’re not working. It’s a good life. Good people.”

“Petty theft isn’t really our style.”

“Ignore him.” Darren sat up straighter in his seat, and Spook leant back. There was a rhythm to this that they always stuck by. “What’s your ship?”

“Firefly class, Tregarren.”

“Strange name.”

“Comes from a battle. Might be you've heard of it.”

 _Ah_ , Spook noted, _an Independent. Just my luck._ He didn’t start anything, not with Darren’s hand on his knee, giving him a warning squeeze. He knew what his partner was thinking; they needed this too much to endanger it with a stupid argument. They were good, but this world was crawling with feds and money was tight. Spook drained his glass.

“Let’s talk payment, Captain.”

*

(tregarren, present)

“Clive tells me you were a soldier.”

Gideon Reader jumped at the words, and turned round, after locking down his mysterious box.

“Almost. Army doctor.”

“Is that so? So, that big box-”

“Medical equipment. I’m planning to set up a clinic in Boros, live out my days peacefully.”

“Very respectable. You hungry, doctor? We’re about to have dinner.” Gideon grinned, and Dax was struck once again by how warm and friendly it was. He could hear words in his head, a favourite of Jenny’s _, a stranger’s just a friend you haven’t met yet!_

“You guys always eat together? Like a family?”

Dax nodded. “My crew are all very close, even if we don’t always act like it. Come on, I’ll show you.” They started to walk together, and Dax noticed he threw little anxious glances back at the box until they were out of the cargo bay. “So, who have you met?”

“Clive, he’s the mechanic, right?”

“One of them,” Dax agreed. “The other’s called Mia. Clive does the math, Mia does the fixing. They’re partners. Not in the romantic kind. The grumpy redhead and the Hispanic kid you met before, that’s Spook and Darren. They’re partners of _both_ kinds.”

“Got it. And, the blonde chick?”

“Lisa. Second-in-command. Word of advice, don’t get on her bad side.”

“Noted,” Gideon chuckled. Dax was surprised at how easy he was to talk to. “Darren’s a nice kid. That’s a pretty small crew, though.”

“You haven’t met all of them. Jennifer’s our pilot, she graduated top of her class at flight school, then we’ve got Jacob, her husband, and Alex, his younger brother.”

“What’s their job?”

“Fighting, usually. The bad guys, each other- they're not picky.”

“Interesting. You’ve got a team made up of teams. But what about you?”

“Lisa’s my partner,” Dax answered automatically. “She’s my right arm. We’ve been together since our army days.”

“And are you two-”

“Once or twice,” Dax smiled. “And now you can meet them all in person.” They’d arrived at the kitchen doors, and Dax entered with an even bigger smile, to see his crew all together. It was a rare enough occurrence, and he felt a kind of pride in being able to show them off the to passengers. Shepherd Hind was next to him when he sat down at the head of the table.

"Captain," Hind asked, once the food was ready, "do you mind if I say grace?"

Through a mouthful of protein, Spook snorted. "Only if you say it out loud." A few seats away from him, Clive looked uneasy, and Lisa rolled her eyes. But, Dax figured, it would do no good to start a quarrel with a passenger on a (hopefully) short journey.

"We don't mind at all, Shepherd. Go ahead." Hind smiled gratefully and bowed his head, and then there was an awkward pause as everyone tried to figure out what to do with their hands. Eventually, Jenny grabbed Mia's hand, who took Spook's, and it started a chain reaction. A little self-consciously, Dax found himself joining hands with Hind on one side and Reader on the other, who both seemed thoroughly amused by the whole affair. But Dax held fast, and through Hind's soft, sonorous prayer, felt a fierce love for his crew, sat around his table with their hands and hearts joined. Even Spook had closed his eyes at some point, but when Dax looked up, Clive's were open and staring at him in disbelief. _Sorry_ , he mouthed quickly, but before Clive could respond the Shepherd finished, looked up, and the spell was broken by the clattering of knives and forks and quiet, contented chatter.

*

(bark's end, four years ago)

"You're starting your own crew? What happened to "I'm done being responsible for people?""

Dax shrugged. "Are you in?" He asked, already knowing the answer. Clive had been determinedly following him across the galaxy since they were kids, and Dax was sure he wasn't about to stop now.

"Well, I _suppose_... But I've got a lot of important work going on right now, you can't expect me to drop everything because you've got some wild notion-"

"Clive," Dax interrupted, as patiently as he could manage. "Did I mention it's a Firefly?"

His best friend stopped short. Adjusted his collar. Gulped, audibly. "A Firefly?"

"A Firefly," Dax repeated, chuckling. "And Mia's coming."

"Ah. Well then. That's- when do we leave?"

"First light. We'll pick up more crew off-world. But right now, you and the girls are all I need; I've got Jen to fly the thing and Lisa to keep order, you for the technical stuff and Mia for the fixin' part. We don't need anyone else, not urgently, anyway."

A sigh. "Lisa's coming?"

"Indeed she is, Spock."

"Oh, shut up. Help me clear this away and I'm all yours."

"Knew you'd say yes."

Privately, Dax wasn't sure if he'd have been able to pluck up the courage to fly away without him there.

*

(tregarren, present)

"What's the problem, Jen?" Dax arrived, yawning, into the cockpit to find Jen biting her lip, with Spook glaring behind her, and Lisa lounging on the co-pilot chair. "Thought we were settled for the night?"

"So did I," she replied with a frown, "but cap'n, I think we're being tailed. And all the signs point to Alliance."

"Shit. I knew we should have left Persephone quicker. You sure they're here for us?”

"Positive, cap'n."

"They shouldn't know where we are," Spook growled, slamming his hand down on the console. "There's no gorram reason for them being here other than us, and what do we got? A mass of stolen cargo, that's what, and some passengers I neither like or trust. I'm betting you let a mole on board, Captain."

"When I want your opinion, I'll ask for it," Dax barked back, but the feeling in his stomach and the look on Lisa's face made him feel a lot less sure of himself. "Picking up passengers is always a risk, but we've got a doctor and a _Shepherd_ , I really don't think that-"

"You never _think_ ," Spook spat back, "you've just got a hard-on for blondes." Dax longed to punch the sneer off his face, but they had a rule, no fighting in Jen's cockpit. "One of them's a gorram mole, and my money's on Reader. It's time to find out what's in that box of his."

"You keep your damn mouth shut while I handle this. Jen, get us out of harm's way, and be quick about it. We can't afford for this job to go south."

"Yes, cap'n," he heard her murmur as he left, and almost walked straight into Mia. He frowned.

"Listening at the door?"

"Looking for you. Tregarren's not happy about Reader's box."

"Spook was right. We should have been more careful."

She raised an eyebrow at him. "Did you just say Spook was right?"

"Don't spread it around," he sighed, moving past and down towards the cargo bay. "I've got a blonde to interrogate. Everything squared away with that new compression coil?"

"Everything's shiny, Captain." Dax nodded and left, grateful that _something_ was going right, at least.

*

“Checking up on that box of yours?” Reader span around, and Dax was sure he wasn’t imagining the guilty expression on the other man’s face.

“There’s some very sensitive equipment in here,” Gideon explained quickly. “Heat sensitive.”

“That’s some fancy stuff for an army doctor, if you don’t mind me saying.”

“I’m interested in a lot of things, scientifically,” Gideon protested weakly, and then a flash of terror in his eyes alerted Dax to the fact that Spook had appeared behind him, and he knew if he looked up, and slightly to the left, Lisa would be an intimidating presence on the balcony. “Uh, what’s all this about?”

“I’m sorry,” Dax said softly, and he _was_ , “but I’m going to have to ask you to open the box.”

“I _can’t_. And it was nice to meet you all, but I’m not sure I appreciate this little meeting. Four of you for one of me, seriously?”

_Four?_

“No harm will come to you, doctor,” came Mia’s voice from behind him, and Dax realised she’d joined Spook. “I promise you. But if you have nothing to hide...”

“That’s not the point. I’m entitled to my privacy. You can’t just go through my stuff.”

“You either open it, or we kick you off this ship right now.” Spook had moved forward, and was fingering the gun in his holster as he talked.

“... We’re in deep space.”

“You’d best open it then, hadn’t you? _Mole_.”

“I’m sorry?”

Dax could have kicked him. _Very subtle_. He sighed. “We appear to have an Alliance ship tailing us.” Immediately, Gideon’s face went white. _Interesting_. “Don’t suppose you know why?”

“They’re not here for you,” Gideon said after a few short, panicked breaths. “I mean, you’re obviously smugglers, but I haven’t told them that, you seem like nice people, I’m just trying to get to Boros-”

“Open the box, please.”

“Perhaps you should listen to him, son.” Dax whirled around to see Shepherd Hind at the door. “There’s no need for violence here.”

“Screw that,” Spook growled. He shot Dax a look, and reluctantly, he nodded. Spook moved in and grabbed Gideon’s arms, twisting them behind his back with an enthusiasm that unnerved Dax a little, but there wasn’t time to debate ethics with the Alliance on their tail. He walked up to the box.

“I gave you a chance,” Dax said simply, and grabbed a nearby crowbar. Over Gideon’s yells of _stop_ , and _you don’t know what you’re doing_ , (and a slightly agonising cry of _please_ ,) Dax managed to pry open the crate with considerable force, and on the last lever it creaked open, and the side fell down, issuing a cold seep of white smoke. Dax jumped back before it hit him. “The hell...”

In the crate, the figure of a man lay, curled up in the foetal position. Naked. Vulnerable. Identical to the man frantically trying to get out of Spook’s grip.

“Luke, oh my God, _let me go_ , he’s not ready to be out yet!” The man- Luke- started twitching, his fingers and toes started to move, and slowly, he blinked into wakefulness. “ _Please_ -” Spook’s shock had made his arms brittle, and Gideon shot out from the hold just as Luke woke up with a start, and clambered out of the crate like a skittish wild animal. Dax was frozen in place, along with the Shepherd. It was Mia who ran forward, holding out her jacket to the man who was shaking in Gideon’s arms, and then it was Mia who flew _backwards_ , past Dax to crash into the back wall. The sick sound of her head landing on the cold metal floor broke the dumb silence, and suddenly everyone was moving; the Shepherd and Spook to Mia, Lisa to Dax, and the man further into Gideon’s arms, shaking and spasming but making no sound. Dax watched dumbly as Gideon kissed the top of the man’s head and whispered comforting words, soothing him as best as he could, _“you’re okay now I’ve got you she can’t hurt you any more please calm down you’re safe I promise I won’t let anything happen to you again_ -”

“ _Dax_ ,” Lisa barked, cuffing him round the head to bring him back to the scene behind him. Spook and Hind were fussing over Mia who was- oh God, unconscious, and the sound of her _head_ \- he stopped, needed to clear his thoughts.

“Jacob, Alex, cargo bay. Bring a stretcher,” he barked into his walkie-talkie. “Lisa, stay with her.” He approached the two strangers alone, crouched down so as to not startle the one he didn’t know. “Gideon, what’s going on? Who’s this?”

“This is Luke,” Gideon replied shakily. “He’s my twin brother. It’s a long story. Could you-” he motioned to Dax, and he realised that Luke was completely naked.

“Right, sorry.” He took off his long coat, and Gideon draped it around his brother’s shoulders.

“Thanks.” Behind them, he could hear the Teller brothers arriving with a stretcher, and prayed to whatever was still up there that Mia would be all right.

“You need to explain what’s going on.”

“Right now? You got an infirmary or something?”

“Follow the stretcher. Can he walk?”

“Dunno. Luke, can you walk?” Luke nodded, but still said nothing, and Dax had no idea if that was normal or not. Shakily, the man got to his feet with their help, and bundled the coat up tightly around him. It drowned his skinny frame, and Dax saw too-pale skin and protruding ribs before Luke covered himself. “Come on, bro,” Gideon let Luke lean on him and the three set off, slower than Dax would like, itching as he was to check on Mia. _When did things go so wrong?_

*

(tregarren valley, five years ago)

There was gunfire, (though that was nothing new, there was always gunfire,) and an explosion, and screams, and in the middle of it all was a girl with gems around her neck, and Dax met Mia in the middle of the Tregarren Battle. Blindly, he expected her to be some sort of nurse, but when she grabbed his gun with a strength he hadn’t expected and fixed a problem he didn’t know it had, he lost that notion pretty quickly. Later, when the orders to retreat had been given and reluctantly obeyed, Dax looked around the helicopter bay and saw her again, sitting alone and half-asleep. There was no chatter, no gallows humour in the company; just shell shocked silence. Clumsily, he moved over to sit next to her.

“Hey,” he whispered, and she jolted back awake. “Sorry. I saw you got hit earlier. You probably shouldn’t sleep.”

“I don’t think one little concussion matters in the grand scheme of things,” she whispered back, and he chuckled.

“Maybe not. But you saved my life out there more times than I’d like to admit, I'd rather not see you slip away on the way home. What’s your name? Why haven’t I seen you before?”

“Mia. Mia Cooper.”

“Dax Jones.”

“I know, sergeant. I travel around the different companies, seeing who needs my help. They all talk about you and your crew.”

“Huh. Hear that, Lees?” Across the bay, Lisa nodded, a faint smile playing on her lips. “We’re famous, for all the good it’ll do us.”

“What happens now?” Clive asked. It was the first thing he’d said since the orders came. “We all go our separate ways? Pretend the war never happened?”

“Life’s not that kind,” Mia sighed. “And we’ll be seeing each other again.” Somehow, Dax knew she was right, but couldn’t for the life of him say why.

*

(tregarren, present)

“So, that’s your twin brother.”

“Actually, we’re triplets.” They had been crowded in the infirmary until Lisa barked at them to clear off and give her some space, and had congregated in the living area instead.

Stretched out on a sofa, Spook drawled, “you got another naked man stashed away, doc? Well, we’ve all got our kinks.” Darren wasn’t there to kick him. He and Alex, as the smallest crew members, had gone to find Luke some clothes, so Jacob did it for him. Dax resisted the urge to roll his eyes, but only barely.

“ _Behave_ , you lot. Go on, Gideon. Triplets?”

He nodded. “Triplets. We’ve got a sister, Catherine. You want the long version or the short one?”

“Short,” Spook and Lisa answered immediately.

“Long,” Dax interrupted. “If you’re on my ship, I want to know it all. So everyone shut up and listen.” A hush came over the crew that was always talking, always bickering, and always appreciated a good storyteller. Gideon cleared his throat, twice, looked towards the door, and then sighed and sat down. “This might take a while, then.”

*

(a bar, three weeks ago)

“How long’s it been since you saw them?”

_Luke, unconscious, raised up in the air, blood falling-_

“Six- no, seven months.”

_Catherine, exultant, behind the wheel of the shuttle that took his brother away-_

“And you’re sure you’ve found them?”

_Gideon, kneeling down on the dusty earth, lost-_

Gideon finished his drink with a last, long gulp, and nodded. “Almost 100%. Can I count on your help?”

“Of course you can,” Tyrone responded, though he was wringing his hands. “Gid, are you _sure_ -”

“I’m sure! Jesus. I’ve got like, witness reports, and everything. They’ve been _seen_. I just need a second pair of hands.”

“You got ‘em. How dangerous is your sister?”

He laughed, and it was cold. “You don’t want to know.”

“If I’m going to be fighting her, I’m gonna _need_ to know.”

“Your job is to get Luke. Leave Catherine to me. I don’t want you getting targeted by the Alliance, she’s their officer or something, just-” Gideon realised he was gripping his glass so hard it could break, and took a deep breath, letting it go. “Just leave her to me. She’s my responsibility.”

“Gid, if you pull this off, you’re never going to be safe again. And if you don’t pull it off, you’re going to be in _jail_.”

“And Luke will be even worse off, I know. But I’ve got to try. I can’t even imagine what she’s done to him, and it’s my fault. I should never have fallen for her act.” Tyrone signalled to the bartender for two more drinks, and watched as Gideon carefully arranged his face and his breathing to calm himself down. There was so much anger in the young man.

“Why’d she take him?”

Gideon took a long swig. “We got on fine until she found out what side I fought for in the war. She started this plan to discredit me, pin loads of stuff on me until she got me into jail. I guess she just wanted to keep Luke for herself. Like a messy divorce,” he laughed, but it was hollow. “She’s messed up, Ty. She got raised by Alliance officers and passed round different institutions- she’s brainwashed and psycho and she’s got Luke. And Luke’s special.”

“Special how?” Ty watched Gideon’s eyes flick around the bar, and the message was clear. _Not here._

“He’s my brother. That’s special enough, isn’t it?”

“Sure is, Gid.” He drained his glass. “Sure is.”

*

(tregarren, present)

It was a while before anyone spoke. Even Spook was silent. By the end of the story, Darren and Alex had come down with Luke trailing behind. He’d sat next to his brother in a jumble of mismatched clothes and didn’t say a word. Not once. His fingers fluttered and fidgeted until Jenny fished out a notebook and pen from her coveralls and he took it gratefully. The room seemed to hold their breath as he wrote.

“I’m sorry about the girl,” Gideon read out. “I didn’t mean to hurt her. I just panicked. Is she okay?” They looked up for confirmation, two identical faces.

“I think she’ll be fine,” Clive said eventually. “She’ll have quite the bruise, though. How- if you don’t mind me asking-” he looked from brother to brother, unsure who to look at. Luke started to write again.

“How I did it? Long story. _Luke_ -” Gideon broke off. “Why can’t you talk?” A pause. “Longer story? What’s that supposed to mean?”

 _It means I’ll tell you later,_ Luke wrote. _And then you can explain why I woke up on a strange spaceship with no clothes on._

*

Shepherd Hind entered the flight deck to see the Captain resting in the pilot’s chair, lazily twirling a small, felt thing in his hands. He looked up, nodded his assent for entry, and then looked back at the object. Hind sat down opposite, and saw that it was a small, childishly made creature; a fox. He raised an eyebrow in question.

“Jen makes them,” Dax explained. “She’s got one for each of us around here somewhere, this is mine”

“You’re a fox. What does that make you? Cunning?”

“I think she was going for territorial. Protective.”

“That you are,” Hind agreed. “It’s certainly been an interesting day. You don’t run a boring ship, I’ll give you that much.”

“My crew are _anything_ but boring,” Dax agreed. “Shepherd?”

“Yes, son?”

“Why are you here?"

"I'm sorry?"

"Why pick my ship? Tregarren’s not exactly a beauty, and I can’t imagine Clive sold it _that_ well. We just about get by on the odd honest job and a lot of not very honest ones. We’re a bunch of misfits, let's be honest. We’re-” He looked up, and Owen was staring at him with an expression of such kindness and patience that he suddenly felt very small, and very shy. “We’re a family.”

Owen nodded. “I know. That’s why I picked you, Captain. Is there room for one more in your family?”

“Today...” He sighed. “You know, when we started, there were five of us? Me, Clive, Lisa, and Jenny. I didn’t think we needed anyone else. Then we got two con-men, who- and if you ever say this to Spook I’ll kick you out immediately- we really couldn’t live without, we've got Jacob and Alex, who are kind of our heart and soul, now we’ve got a doctor and his twin brother, who are bringing all kinds of trouble on board, Alliance trouble which I don’t _need_... but yeah. We’ve got room for one more. I’ll have Jen sew you something. An eagle, maybe. You can litter the flight deck with the rest of us.”

“It would be my genuine privilege, captain.”

“Yeah. Same here.” There was a long, comfortable silence, while they drifted through stars. Dax found himself staring at the Shepherd, who had leant back, eyes closed, smiling. “Hey,” he said softly, after a few minutes of peace. “Get some rest. We’ll undoubtedly have more crime and twin shenanigans to deal with tomorrow, and none of my crew get to slack off.”

Owen chuckled. “Yes, captain. I’ll see you in the morning.” Pausing at the door, he watched Dax adjust as he alone again, staring out at the universe around him. The fox lay prone in his lap, and he seemed to be deep in thought. Smiling softly, Owen pressed the button to close the doors, and left him to it.

“Trouble I don’t need,” Dax repeated, yawned, and rubbed his neck. “But we’re still flying.”

_It’s not much. But it’s enough._

**Author's Note:**

> This was meant to be three sentences long, is definitely not, and is possibly the most fun thing I've written all year. I have way more headcanons that I couldn't fit in, and a lot more ideas... but let's face it, this is the Shapeshifter fandom. Our fics don't get a lot of hits. I hope you liked this, Emma, (I tried to fit in as much Owen as I could for you.)


End file.
